40 Years at Chez Panisse: The Power of Gathering by Alice Waters

Coming August 23rd!

and I get to eat there at the beginning of August! Huzzah!

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

Sookie's back in her 11th mystery! If you're a fan of the hit HBO series True Blood, you must check out the books based on the series. As a librarian, I find myself more and more being an advocate for light (read: trashy) reading. A lot of readers in the public library keep asking for The Paris Wife while I furtively roll my eyes. Reading stuffy literary fiction is no way to spend your summer! Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse is charming, and the first books in the series are excellent. A kind of alternate world where vampires and shapeshifters exist features Sookie as a happenstance detective, investigating murder, kidnapping, and violence against the supernatural. Did I mention she can read minds? Her 11th adventure, in true Sookie-fashion, is getting a bit over the top. I would describe the series as "going drag queen," -- it's come full circle, but it's going around again for the hell of it! Harris has signed on to pump out even more of Sookie's adventures, so if you're charmed by the pleasantries of southern life with a dash of vamp, stay tuned!

Super Mario: How Nintendo Conquered America by Jeff Ryan

I am very excited about this book. I have great memories of navigating Mario over lava pits in an effort to save pesky Princess Peach. It's fascinating to see how Nintendo came to dominate console gaming, emerging as a technological leader among loads of crappy game developers. It's due out August 4th.